Shelbyville Lady Golden Bears Basketball

Shelbyville in search of a rare tourney title By Steve Hanlon Indianapolis Star February 14, 2001 GREENFIELD, Ind. -- It sat there in the locker room like it had all year long, this little beacon to the past. A trophy with the year 1979 on its base greeted the Shelbyville Golden Bears on Tuesday night as they opened the Class 3A Greenfield-Central Sectional. The ninth-ranked Bears drew the host Cougars in the opening game, and a big crowd had come in hopes of seeing an upset. And with 4 minutes left in the first quarter, Greenfield-Central led 5-2 and Shelbyville's freshman sensation, Gretchen Haehl, had two fouls. Shelbyville, the only ranked team in the field, is the favorite despite the fact the Bears haven't won a sectional since 1979. "I prefer coming in as the underdog," said Shelbyville senior guard Sarah Laird after she scored 13 points in the Bears' 55-39 win over the Cougars. In the second game, Whiteland got past New Palestine 49-43. "We have a lot more pressure on us," Laird continued. "I looked up at the scoreboard and we hadn't scored yet. I couldn't believe it. Finally, we started taking the ball to the basket and hitting our shots. "We're a young team and this is a new experience. Come Friday, we'll be more accustomed to this." Trailing 8-5 after one quarter, Haehl picked up the pace of the game by scoring nine second-quarter points as Shelbyville (18-3) pulled to a 22-16 lead at the break. That lead grew to 37-24 after three quarters as the Bears' pressure defense continued causing havoc for Greenfield-Central (13-8), which had 29 turnovers. But in the fourth quarter, Greenfield sophomore Ellen Hamilton scored 11 of her game-high 23 points. And on her third 3-pointer in the period she got the hosts to within seven with 2:40 remaining. "She's a heck of a player," said Shelbyville coach John Fair. Fair said Greenfield-Central controlled the tempo for the entire game. But Shelbyville helped its cause by going 11-of-12 from the line in the fourth quarter. "This proves that we can win playing our half-court offense and our half-court defense," said Fair, who pulled off his team's full-court press at the half. "We just knew our depth and talent would wear them down. And in the end, we hit our shots. We're shooting over 70 percent from the line as a team." Haehl led the Bears with 15 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals. In the second game, Whiteland's Megan Liffick was 9-of-11 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and scored a game-high 28 points in leading the Warriors (10-11) over the Dragons (10-11). "We did play a good, controlled fourth quarter," said Whiteland coach Allen Weems. "We spread the floor and we had two, three kids step up tonight and all of our kids played hard." New Palestine was led by freshman Gabrielle Allison's 10 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Ashley Buses scored 10. And what about Friday's matchup against Shelbyville at 6 p.m. for Whiteland? "We have to control the basketball," Weems said. "The first time we played them we had 35 turnovers. If we don't do that, we have a chance." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Steve Hanlon at (317) 865-4903 or via e-mail at steve.hanlon@starnews.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Game 1 GREENFIELD-CENTRAL (39) -- Hamilton 8-18 4-6 23, Titus 0-1 0-0 0, Shoop 2-4 0-0 4, Collins 1-1 2-2 4, Bodkin 0-5 2-3 2, M. Johnson 3-6 0-0 6, Miller 0-1 0-0 0, J. Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Faenzi 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-37 8-11 39. SHELBYVILLE (55) -- Gr. Haehl 4-9 5-6 15, Matney 1-3 0-0 3, Laird 4-12 3-4 13, Ross 0-3 2-2 2, Douglas 4-5 0-0 8, Kolls 3-8 0-0 6, Gw. Haehl 2-3 2-2 6, Wise , Berger , Coy. Totals: 19-54 12-14 55. 3-point shooting -- Greenfield-Central 3-11 (Hamilton 3-6, Bodkin 0-2, Johnson 0-3), Shelbyville 5-10 (Gr. Haehl 2-3, Matney 1-2, Laird 2-4). Rebounds -- Greenfield-Central 20 (Shoop 6, Hamilton 4, Bodkin 4), Shelbyville 28 (Gr. Haehl 4, Douglas 4, Kolls 4). Assists -- Greenfield-Central 10 (Bodkin 6), Shelbyville 9 (Gr. Haehl 5, Laird 3). Turnovers -- Greenfield-Central 29, Shelbyville 9. Steals -- Greenfield-Central 5 (Hamilton 3), Shelbyville 8 (Gr. Haehl 3). Total fouls -- Greenfield-Central 15, Shelbyville 16. Fouled out: None. Technicals -- None. Officials -- Scott West, Phil Vidito